Empty Darkness, Morning Light
by I Am Sweden
Summary: My rendition on Final Fantasy IX's ending and Kuja's death. Yes, it contains spoilers.


_Empty Darkness, Morning Light_

Zidane warily blinked open one eye.

He instantly regretted doing so. Roots of the Iifa tree were everywhere- and they were heading for him. Zidane jumped up to his feet, only to notice that roots had snagged his ankle. With only an absent thought, he sliced the clinging root away with the only dagger he had left on his person. He remembered that Kuja was here, somewhere entangled in this mess.

"Kuja!" he called out over the deafening roar of the roots, all hissing and raging around the dying tree. There was no way to stay in one spot for long, lest he be consumed by the tree's retaliation. Zidane irritably hacked away at the incoming vines and kept searching for Kuja.

_There._ Zidane turned towards a weak blow of fire magic that hardly made a dent in the foliage slowly encasing his brother. "Kuja!" he shouted louder, jumping and fighting to his position. "I'm coming!"

The roots shied away from the fire that suddenly lit Zidane's blade. He easily did away with them and dragged the weary Kuja out of the soon-to-be sarcophagus. Kuja painfully raised his arm- it shook badly- and sent frail blasts of magic at the vines and roots zooming towards the two brothers. A shivering wrack of pain went through Kuja. "Stop!" Zidane cried. He knew- though still trying to remain in denial- that Kuja was most likely taking his last breath.

The mage tiredly shook his head. "I can trance… one last time…. You can get away- go back to your-" he paused as pain went though him again.

Zidane didn't let him finish. "No way! Come on; I'm getting both of us out of here."

Kuja let out a dark, weak chuckle. "I'll soon be dying anyway." As he spoke, he began to glow.

"No you don't," Zidane grunted. He didn't want to do it, for it'd be a lot harder to escape, but he did it anyway. The thief hit the back of Kuja's neck. His eyes went wide for just a second, then fell, unconscious. Holding his dagger in his mouth, Zidane caught him. Then, just as easily, threw him on his back and started to run. Zidane was amazed at how little his brother weighed. Taking a chance to humor himself, he thought, _I guess the food on Terra wasn't much more than wimpy vegetables. The bad ones, too._

As his stomach growled, angrily reminding him that food was still a necessity, he perished the thought and took a quick, reckless jump upward, barely able to wrap his tail around the thick and dying branch and still hold on to Kuja at the same time.

_Something else… what do I want to go back to?_

_Dagger._

The thief's eyes lit up at the thought of Dagger and he filled with determination. Dagger and Kuja. Dagger and his brother.

"Not today!" he declared, a goofy smile on his face. The foliage snapped at him, but he had finally found his way out of the jungle.

He ran a little longer, and a lot harder for fear of any monsters, and finally stopped at the edge of a deep gorge. Huffing, he gently laid Kuja down and commenced to fall back himself. "We made it!" he shouted. "Victory is ours, my man!" He smiled, turning his head to the still unconscious Kuja.

Odd, he didn't look so much like a deranged murderer asleep. Zidane found this utterly hilarious and burst out laughing.

Kuja irritably opened his eyes. "Have you been driven mad?" he caustically asked.

Zidane sat up on his elbows. "Naw," he said, still grinning, "just happy."

His brother rolled his eyes and easily drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Zidane gladly followed suit. His last thought before falling into slumber was the image of Dagger- her beautiful hair and kind, patient eyes….

He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

Kuja opened his eyes. The sunlight was harsh- but he was glad to feel it. The pain assured him he was still alive after all of yesterday's terrors. For no reason he cared to admit, he looked over to make sure Zidane was still alive too.

His gaze narrowed as he saw his younger brother with a ridiculous wide smile on his face. But he didn't feel any spite, oddly. This little brat had changed him. A nagging voice inside Kuja's head told him to be useful and make a fire for the two of them, and maybe to find some food while he was at it, but he wasn't feeling _that_ caring.

Instead, he stood, stumbled a bit, and took a good look around. He was very surprised to see the Iifa tree was no more than a miniscule speck off the horizon. Before all of this happened, Kuja may have simply left his brother there and left for somewhere lonely to die in peace.

But no. The nagging voice made him hesitate, and then simply forget the thought. He swore to himself that he was doing this for himself, and _only_ himself, as he made a fire. Zidane shuffled around a bit, but remained asleep. _Now I suppose I should greet the little monster with breakfast in bed, _he sarcastically thought.

He left, but this time with a strong intent on coming back.

* * *

"_Wake up, I say, you stupid monkey!"_

"Not now, Rusty…," Zidane mumbled, rolling over on his other side.

Kuja ungraciously resorted to kicking him. Zidane shot upright and scowled at him. "Geez, what's the big idea?" Then he sharply turned to the fire and, more importantly, the fish grilling over it. "Where'd you find this!?" he asked, instantly grabbing a stick.

His brother smacked his hand away. "It's not nearly done yet, fool. Can't you tell?"

Zidane looked at him in surprise. "You know how to cook?"

"A skill _you_ obviously lack," Kuja muttered. And that was the best response he was allowing Zidane. After a few moments of Zidane staring imploringly at him, Kuja sighed and said, "Fine. But I hope you scorch your tongue."

"Yes! Thank you," he added after a satisfying bite. Zidane moaned and handed his brother the other fish. "Are'n you gonna eat?" he asked, his mouth full.

Kuja stared at it for a minute, then huffily grabbed it.

After the two had eaten their fill, Zidane asked, "Are you coming with me?"

"To where, may I ask?"

"Home, of course. Where else? I'll go see Dagger, Vivi, and Rusty at the palace, and visit Freya and Quina and Eiko and Amarant-"

Kuja cut him off. "Whatever makes you assume I'll go back to Alexandria? In case you have forgotten, I am not exactly on everyone's good side at the moment. Everyone one that _you_ know hates me. For good reason," he added, unexpected guilt cutting off his sarcastic tirade.

Zidane frowned. "They'll forgive you. They have to. You were just a little crazed out over Garland is all. 'Sides, you've got me! I'll stick up for you!"

Again, Zidane gave him that childish smile.

The childish smile that Kuja wished he was able to also display.

* * *

Kuja didn't know why he was doing this, but he supposed that _did_ owe Zidane something for his trouble. Without a word, Kuja left while Zidane slept again that night.

The teleportation was heavy on his weary body, but he supposed he might as well make his last breath one worth breathing.

Captain Adelbert Steiner and General Beatrix instantly flinched to attention.

"Stand down," Kuja waved, leaning against a wall. "I've come to tell this Dagger girl that Zidane is coming."

Steiner gaped. "That rambunctious thief!? Coming _here_!? This week is Queen Garnet's official coronation!"

"All the more better," Beatrix assured her former employer. "I'll go tell her highness right away. Steiner, Mr. Kuja looks tired. Perhaps you could tend to him?"

Both men looked as if they'd rather be torn apart by the roots of the Iifa tree. Beatrix rolled her eyes and left the room.

* * *

Zidane woke with a start to notice two very important things: Kuja was missing, and there wasn't any more food.

After deciding finding his brother was more important than eating at the moment, he hastily took off running, trying to figure just where in Gaia that crazy man had gone.

* * *

"It will be a surprise for her Highness, I suppose," Steiner finally decided after enough arguing on the entire kingdom's part. "I'll send an air…. Um, I'll send a ship for him immediately. Kuja-?"

"I'll just teleport. Don't waste your silly boats," he sighed, more than fed up with these fools' bickering. Why he hadn't left prior to this, he didn't know. He didn't even know why he bothered to come. But he did know that after just one teleport, he could barely stand. As much as he hated sitting at the same table as these… these… _buffoons_, he didn't really have much of a choice. It was either sit, or lie on the floor.

"No!" Steiner burst. Everyone in the room turned their incredulous glances on him. "W-we'll send Master Vivi! That would be more appropriate, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it…?"

Kuja inwardly groaned. Even the uptight soldier-reject had pity on his pathetic self. How worse could this day get for him?

General Freya, who had come from Burmecia only to attend Garnet's coronation, entered the room. No sooner had she done so had she drew her long javelin. Kuja sighed and recited his story, which he was beginning to think was ridiculous. "I'll… go tell the others," she stiffly said after the mage had finished. Freya didn't waste any time exiting.

_There's someone with a brain,_ Kuja thought. After another languid sigh, he said, "Send the little pupp- mage. My brother is on the outer continent on a gorge a considerable amount of distance away from that accursed tree."

"You and Zidane are _brothers_?"

"Yes. Aren't I lucky. Are we going to send the little one or not?"

Steiner nodded and left to fetch Vivi.

* * *

A good two days later, Garnet Til Alexandros looked out over the gathered crowd. The one person she wanted- no, _needed_- to see was not there. And that was what devastated her the most. So he… hadn't survived. She shouldn't have been surprised. Zidane was many things, but was there ever really a chance that he'd live through this bout?

Steiner and Beatrix took either side of the double doors behind their queen and opened them wide. Kuja, which cared not to admit to being the least bit shy around this woman, strode forward. "Y-your Highness?" he began. His face paled a considerable amount. Had he just _squeaked_ out the title?

Garnet turned, and her eyes went wide. "K-Kuja…!" She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. If he was alive….

She rushed back to the balcony's edge and scanned through the crowd. Just at the edge of the mass, she saw a tiny black mage jumping up and down and waving. Garnet ran up to the double doors, but Steiner and Beatrix blocked the way. The two simultaneously smiled and opened the doors wide. Garnet smiled and ran past them, rushing to the castle grounds.

The queen shouldered her way through the crowd. She stopped only for a moment as her pendant was bumped off of her. _Not worth it, not ever again worth it, _she promised herself.

Kuja picked up the stone.

"Zidane!" the queen cried as the thief came into view. She threw her crown aside and jumped into his waiting embrace.

Zidane gave his older brother a gracious glance and hugged Dagger close. "Sorry I'm late."

She pulled back and started beating on his shoulder. "Don't ever do that to me again!"

He merely smiled and pulled her close, stroking her hair.

On the balcony looking out over the scene, Steiner and Beatrix raised a blade and shined it proud, signaling the return of a hero.

"How did you survive…?" Dagger asked quietly as the crowd clapped for the two of them.

"I didn't have a choice," Zidane explained. "I had to live. I wanted to come home to you. So… I sang your song."

Kuja rolled his eyes. Theatrical till the end, that one.

His love-drunk brother continued: "Our song."

She giggled, still amazed that he was alive. Zidane suddenly pointed to Kuja, whose hint of a smile quickly faded. "All this is thanks to Kuja, my brother!"

The crowd erupted into applause again, despite how only yesterday most of Gaia had hated him. In fact, most of them still didn't like him. But if the dying mage had used the very last of his strength to reunite the two lovers together again, then no one could say he wasn't one heck of man.

* * *

That afternoon, Kuja and Dagger had a hard time trying to keep Zidane sober at the party. Every time they accidentally let him wander, they found him with some random drunk, telling a more audacious story every time.

After five times, Kuja simply left. Or, rather, his breath left him. He stopped suddenly as the taste of iron filled his mouth. Kuja looked around at the crowd, but no one had noticed that he had finally reached his limit. With only Zidane and Dagger noticing, Kuja stumbled out into the hall.

He didn't get very far until his legs buckled beneath him.

Zidane rushed out after him, worry plastered to his face. "Kuja…?" he asked. "Kuja, no!"

Kuja clutched his chest, which had suddenly exploded with pain. _And here I thought to die peacefully. _Kuja faintly smiled and barely turned to his brother. _But… maybe I will._

Dagger rushed over and started to use all the white magic she could in an attempt to save him. Kuja might have imagined it, but… were those tears in her eyes? He kept the smile on his face, even though he knew all the magic in the world would not be enough to save himself, or even to buy him more time.

"I apologize for this," Kuja said. His voice was barely above a whisper. "I am sorry for ruining your party, Queen Garnet."

She fiercely shook her head. "If Zidane is still alive, then you can't go either! Not after I've just appointed you as royal mage. You can't. Vivi… Vivi's too young for the job, so you have to take it."

He couldn't shake his head to argue. Instead, he whispered, "Wiser than his years…. Tell him I'm glad that I made him to last. Watch out for him, Zidane. Please…."

Zidane was silent, still staring at his dying form. He stood wide-eyed, barely processing what his brother had requested. In his eyes, tears were forming. One escaped. It trickled down his face, falling on Kuja's hand.

Neither brother had known Genomes could cry.

Neither knew that Kuja's last, dying breath would be something that never before came out of his mouth.

"_Sometimes, Brother, goodbye is the only way for a good ending."_

With his poetic farewell, he closed his eyes for the last time.

Zidane dropped to his knees, tears that couldn't get out fast enough streaming down his cheeks. Dagger cried also. But she knew that Zidane had to deal with this on his own.

He didn't notice Dagger quietly rush away.

"Goodbye…," Zidane gasped out, "is the worst ending!"

_In the end, the goodbye is what makes the story worth telling. Every tear shed is what paves the adventure of a greater tomorrow. Even with that tomorrow's lack of hope, it never truly dies. Hope is always alive, even in empty darkness. For after the night ends, the morning light shines bright with someone's lost hope renewed._


End file.
